Uncharted Promises

by Keely Brooke Keith

  Sybil tried not to smile but couldn’t hold it back. Only Bailey knew Isaac had kissed her, and she’d promised not to tell anyone. Sybil had wanted to tell Eva all week. They’d spent years dreaming of the day when Sybil fell in love, and now that she was head-over-heels, Eva was too angry to make decent conversation. She was angry with Philip for becoming the new overseer and with the other overseers for appointing him and with all of them for building a chapel and declaring Falls Creek a village.

  Some days Sybil felt badly for not telling her sister what had happened, and some days she wondered if Eva might take her anger out on Isaac if she found out he’d kissed her. It was hard to imagine Eva being logical about anything when she was this agitated.

  But the way Claudia looked at her now made her think the older woman might know there was more to their relationship than sweet glances. She checked the staircase to make sure no one was in earshot. “You mean Isaac has his eyes on me?”

  “Of course, dear. I’m not blind. Neither is Leonard.”

  Sybil froze, her heart quickening its pace. “Is Leonard upset that Isaac might be… I mean that he is interested in… not that it has interfered with his work but—”

  “Not upset, no.” Claudia laughed as she carried a clean set of sheets into Room 3. “But he told me not to encourage it.”

  Sybil’s stomach dropped. She followed Claudia into the room and helped her spread the sheets. “Why did Leonard say that? Does he believe Isaac to be insincere? Or a cad? Or is Leonard planning to give the job to Eddie?”

  Claudia held up a hand. “Too many questions, dear. You’re starting to sound like your sister.”

  “Please be honest with me. Do you think Isaac is truly intrigued with me?”

  Claudia gave her an incredulous look. “All I can say is that it looks to me as though the young man is what you kids call intrigued.”

  Then why hadn’t he tried to spend time with her? Why hadn’t he told her how he felt? If he was really pressed for time, he could have written her a note. It didn’t have to be an effusive love letter or even the poetry she’d always dreamed of receiving, but he could let her know something somehow.

  She stuffed a pillow into a clean white pillowcase. The scent of fresh laundry always made her pause and brought her acutely into the present. There was too much on her mind to let the sensation last. “Why did Leonard tell you not to encourage us? Does he think Isaac is just entertaining himself by admiring me?”

  “He didn’t say what he thought exactly, but it is hard to know what the young man’s intentions are. Give it time.”

  Eva made falling in love with Solo look like pure bliss. All that swirled inside Sybil mixed into a recipe that was anything but pleasant. She flopped the pillow onto the head of the bed. “He might be intrigued. He might not. Only time will tell. I wish I knew now. I don’t want to pine for a man who isn’t serious or who will leave.”

  Claudia erected her spine slowly after being bent over the bed. She rubbed her low back as she spoke. “It’s always been hard for you to wait.”

  She’d heard that phrase from Claudia her whole life. “It is hard to wait, but I do it. I’ve been waiting for ten years for Revel to come home. Eight years for Mother to return. Almost four for James to come back. Every afternoon I wait for Father to wake up from his nap, praying he will know where he is and who I am.” She sat on the bed’s corner. “It seems as though all I do is wait.”

  The kitchen timer dinged and Claudia gave her arm a sympathetic squeeze. “Your wait for the casserole is over.”

  That got a smile out of her. “Thanks, Claudia.”

  * * *

  “Eleven for dinner tonight,” Eva announced as she hustled into the kitchen. She yanked the oven door open. “The bread is ready.”

  Sybil didn’t have to look at the rolls to know her sister was wrong. A slight tangy scent still clung to the baking bread’s aroma. “No, they aren’t. Two more minutes.”

  Eva dropped the oven door shut with a clank. “I need them now. I have to take Father’s dinner up to his room.”

  Sybil’s chest tightened. “Is he ill?”

  “No.”

  “Then why isn’t he coming down for dinner?”

  “I found him standing on the upstairs balcony, shivering and asking where he was. He kept pointing at the chapel.” She grabbed a tea towel and yanked the roll pan from the oven. “Ridiculous chapel. We don’t need it. Now Father refuses to come out of his room. Keeps asking who took his land.”

  Sybil turned to the sink to rinse a spoon. “It wasn’t his land.”

  When she turned back to Eva, her sister was glaring at her, mouth slightly puckered. “Don’t let Father hear you say that.”

  She hadn’t meant for anyone to hear her say it. It just slipped out as words sometimes do when one has held in too many for too long. She checked the casserole which was cooling under a tea towel, even though it didn’t need checking. “I can take a plate up to Father’s room while you serve in the dining room.”

  “Nonsense.” Eva shooed her suggestion away with the flick of a wrist. “I can do both.”

  Though her sister’s bossy mannerisms served her in running the inn, they were often misconstrued by those who didn’t know her heart as Sybil did. Eva’s silky brow had been furrowed for a week. Sweaty strands had escaped her tight twist and she hadn’t smoothed them back. There was more to her agitation than a chapel being built across the road, and amid Sybil’s own troubles, somehow she’d missed it.

  She stirred the gravy slowly and watched her beloved sister’s face. “It’s just a chapel, Eva. We still have the inn and its property and the farm.”

  Eva stopped fanning the hot rolls and pressed both palms onto the countertop. “It is not just a chapel. Having an overseer will affect everything I do, everything I have worked so hard for.” Her voice weakened with defeat. “If Falls Creek becomes a village, the overseer will bring in a schoolteacher and expect Zeke to spend his days in a classroom. They won’t give me a choice.”

  “Surely not.”

  “And when Solo and I are ready to get married, the overseer will expect us to ask his permission.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it—”

  “And if Revel doesn’t come home before Father dies, this Philip will take over the inn. He doesn’t believe a woman can run a business.” Her voice strengthened. “I won’t have it. Not for a second.”

  Either Sybil had missed several important conversations about the authority Philip would have as the overseer, or Eva was letting the situation escalate in her mind. Since nothing Eva said matched how things operated in the Land’s eight other villages, it seemed to be the latter.

  Sybil stopped what she was doing and took Eva’s hand to get her attention. “It will be all right, Eva. You can still teach Zeke at home and you can still marry Solo and you are running the inn just fine. All Philip will do is give a Sunday sermon at the chapel.”

  Eva huffed in disbelief, so Sybil squeezed her hand a little. “And with a chapel nearby, you and Solo could have a beautiful church wedding. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

  As her sister’s expression lightened, an idea came to Sybil filling her with the first spark of hope she’d felt since Isaac kissed her. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”

  “Think of what?”

  “Your wedding?”

  Amused confusion made Eva’s nose crinkle. “What wedding?”

  “That’s it! When you and Solo are ready to get married, promise me you’ll let me plan a grand wedding for you. It’s only a small chapel, but still, I’ll need a month, maybe two to do it right.”

  “Why would we need more time than the customary preparation week?”

  “I want to make a big cake and decorate the chapel and,” she steadied her voice for the most important part, “I want to send invitations to all of our relatives, yours and his. It will take more than a week for them to receive the invitations and make the trip here.”

  An
d more than a week for her to plan and prepare everything, but it would be worth it because surely a big church wedding would get their mother to come back. Annabelle would see the little inn had grown into a village and would be happy to stay. And Revel and James would come to see Eva get married, especially after her years of grieving Ezekiel.

  Once they were all at the inn together, Frederick would feel better. The reunion would restore his tired mind and restore his lost memory. He wouldn’t have to miss his wife and sons. They would all be together. Just as they were supposed to be.

  She leveled her gaze on Eva in an attempt at authority. “Please, tell Solo you want to wait until spring to get married and let me take care of the details.”

  Eva slid her hand out of Sybil’s grip and tapped one finger to her lips as she thought. “That sounds nice. Of course, I want a say in the details.”

  “Of course.”

  “The ceremony would have to be in the afternoon, so I wouldn’t have to fuss with guests leaving and all that.”

  “I’ll make sure everything is taken care of.”

  A loving grin replaced Eva’s scowl. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

  “For you, yes.” Her heart bubbled with her new plan. “So you’ll talk to Solo about it then?”

  Eva’s grin grew into a smile. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Nine

  Isaac shoveled a forkful of mince pie into his mouth and absorbed its savory flavor while he glanced at the others in the dining room. The overseers had left Falls Creek and no new guests had come. Still, the room was half full with just the people who lived here now.

  Something wasn’t right though.

  Frederick wasn’t at his table. Leonard, Claudia, and little Zeke ate quietly, their gazes fixed on Frederick’s empty chair as if his absence were only a taste of his eminent departure from this life.

  Something must have happened while Isaac had been out fixing the fences on the west side of the horse paddock. He’d spotted Sybil in the kitchen on his way into dinner, but her back had been to the door while Eva was giving her an earful about something, so he passed saying nothing.

  With the overseers and traders gone, the inn was quieter. That wasn’t what was odd. The inn was a place of rest and relief for weary travelers, but this evening, dread shadowed the family’s faces. Tension hung in the air like when a cow was about to be slaughtered and all the other cows knew it.

  He took another bite of Sybil’s delicious cooking and waited for Eva to come back into the dining hall from the kitchen. If anyone knew everything that went on around here, it was her. At the next table over sat the new man, Philip, who’d been named the Overseer of Falls Creek. He was all alone.

  Eva strode into the dining hall and straight for Philip’s empty side of the room. She set a water pitcher on his table with a clank and swirled away before he could thank her.

  Whatever was wrong in the house either began or ended with Eva.

  Isaac kept his elbows close to his body as he ate, trying not to touch Eddie who sat too close on his left, chewing with his mouth open. It was rare for Isaac to dislike a man outside of his family as much as he disliked Eddie McIntosh.

  It wasn’t simply that Eddie was competition for the job. The gangly twerp either stayed awkwardly silent or infected every conversation with his know-it-all-attitude. He reminded Isaac too much of Nathan.

  He’d come to Falls Creek to forget his brother, not to be constantly reminded of him.

  Eva vanished through the doorway again as powerfully as she’d entered. Before Isaac took another bite, ladies’ laughter resounded from the kitchen. One voice, the lightest and sweetest, was Sybil’s. The others were Eva and Bailey. It was probably Bailey who’d amused them. The outsider had a knack for quirky comments.

  So far, Sybil had been the only bright spot in Isaac’s time at Falls Creek. She was worth every moment of frustration, every twinge of aggravation, every muscle ache he’d endured. And with two months until Leonard’s decision on who got the job, there was still plenty of work and frustration and annoyance to come.

  But it would all be worth it for Isaac if he got to stay at Falls Creek and court Sybil.

  Once the job situation was settled, he wouldn’t have to keep his feelings for her subdued. There would be no more fear of Leonard or Frederick thinking he was using her to secure the position, or fear of Eddie using it against him, or fear of Eva’s aggression. The sisters seemed as close as any two women raised in the middle of nowhere, so there was no doubt in his mind that one misstep with Sybil would land him in the bullpen with a snarling Eva.

  That was one fight he neither wanted nor thought he could win.

  When the girls’ laughter rumbled again, he looked back toward the hallway that led to the kitchen. Eva sauntered in and passed his table. She grinned at Solo then all pleasure drained from her pretty face as she turned a hawkish glare toward Philip.

  Isaac lifted his chin at Solo, who sat across the table from him. “Where is Frederick this evening?”

  Solo chased his food down with a drink from his water cup before answering. “He wasn’t feeling well.”

  “Is he all right?”

  Solo pressed his lips in a grim line and shook his head. He tapped two fingers to his temple. It was no secret that Frederick’s mind was slipping—that was the reason Isaac was caught in this ridiculous contest for the job. Still, no one spoke of it. At least not the men.

  As Isaac sopped up the gravy on his plate with his last corner of bread, Eva’s raised voice came from the side of the room where Philip sat at his desolate table.

  “More rolls again? You want more, eh? Here, take all of them,” she screeched as she plunked a bread basket on his table. A wayward roll bounced to the floor. “You might as well take it all. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? To take everything we have?”

  Philip calmly patted the air. “Miss Vestal, please—”

  No one in the dining hall breathed as Eva’s volume grew. “My name is Mrs. Vestal, but you would know that if you took the time to find out whom you’ve come to rule over.”

  “I’m not here to rule anyone.”

  “You’re sleeping in my home, eating my food, and not contributing one ounce of work. You think you’re above everyone else. That we exist to serve you. That you finagled your way into a position of authority and now you can sit back and live for free off our backs.”

  Philip placed his fork and knife on his plate of half-eaten dinner. “I am obeying what I was told to do by the council of the Land’s overseers, what they prayerfully believed God had ordained me to do. I did not come to Falls Creek to take anything from you or your family, Mrs. Vestal. If boarding me while I build the parsonage is too burdensome, I will sleep in the empty chapel.”

  “Good! Do that!”

  Solo crossed the room with quick strides. He stepped behind Eva and gently touched her shoulders. “Eva, that’s quite enough.”

  She shook free from his hands. “No! Don’t take his side.” Color flushed her indignant cheeks. “You know he’s here to take all of this away from us. You know how hard my father worked and my grandfather worked to build Falls Creek. Now this man who doesn’t even know my name has come to take over just because Revel hasn’t come home yet. I for one won’t give up everything my family has built. If this man wants to sleep in the chapel, he should. Good luck getting a hot meal there, mister!”

  Solo slipped between her and the edge of the table where Philip stoically sat. He rubbed Eva’s arms and cooed her away the way he handled angry mares. “Easy, girl. You know you don’t mean it. Let’s get some fresh air.” He laid his hand on the small of her back and ushered her down the hallway.

  Isaac didn’t exhale until after he heard the side door close. By the look of the unwanted overseer, neither did he.

  Leonard hobbled through the anxious air to the center of the dining hall. “Please excuse Eva, everyone. She’s been under a great deal of worry. Frederick isn’t well this eveni
ng.” He looked at Philip. “She didn’t mean it. Any of it. You’re welcome to stay here.”

  Philip stood and lifted his round brimmed hat from the empty chair beside his. “Thank you all the same, sir, but I believe it would be best if I stayed at the chapel. I’ll have the parsonage finished soon. It is to be my home, so I should acquaint myself with it even now. Good evening, all.”

  He nodded politely to Leonard and then to the men at Isaac’s table as he passed by. The latch on the front door clicked humbly behind him.

  Leonard leaned an arthritic hand onto the back on Solo’s empty chair to support himself. He looked at Isaac and then Eddie. “I want you boys to help him build his parsonage, starting first thing tomorrow. I’ll take care of the farm chores until you’re done. Philip is a man of God, sent here for our good. Eva will see that soon enough, but right now her mind is clouded with fretting over her father.” He raised a swollen finger at Isaac and then Eddie. “First thing tomorrow, you hear?”

  “Yes, sir,” Isaac answered first, then Eddie.

  The side door opened and everyone watched the dining hall doorway. Only Solo walked in. Female voices mumbled in the kitchen. Isaac couldn’t decipher the words, only the tones—Eva’s negative, Sybil’s conciliatory, Bailey’s odd inflections. He wanted to go in there and rescue Sybil from Eva’s tirade, but it would probably end his stay at Falls Creek.

  Besides, Sybil could handle herself with her sister. From what he’d seen, she could handle herself amidst anything. Even when he’d busted in her room when the trader was in there, she’d already broken free from the man’s grip.